How do you hold a catfish?

[patrickacox]

I love to fish for catfish, but don't really know how to handle them once I pull them out of the water. I usually use a towel to hold them. They can still fin you through the towel though. The cuts you get from a catfish hurt like crazy.<br><br>Can someone give me some tips on how to hold a catfish without getting finned?<br>Thanks<br><br>

[johnincolorado]

I have found that if you hold the catfish in the palm of your hand with the fins going through your fingers, the catfish can't fin you. However, they are quicker than an ex-wife on a winning lottery ticket so be careful anyway.<br> Another method is to use cut-proof gloves, the type used by butchers, knive builders and Jack the Ripper type personalities. Of course you can always clip the fins off after you have them on shore, or in the boat, but you'd probably get pounced on by PETA members and others of that ilk. I'd suggest that only if you're going to keep the fish and invite him/her (gotta be gender correct) home to dinner.<br>I believe our anchestors used the fins as spear tips, very successfully I might add, because the slim would paralyze their prey, and those big dinosaurs needed paralyzing if anything did. Ever try to skin a four ton dinosaur while it was still alive and kicking? Very nasty job.<br>Anyway, hope this helps.<br><br>

[davetclown]

seeing as I have no luck with the bigones I grab them by the belly thumb under one fin the other fin between my index and middle finger.<br><br><b><font color=red>be cairful cause them fins and dorsal fins have needle sharp bones in them and if stung by them it will hurt for days.</font color=red></b><br><br><A HREF="http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/MESS6438/" target="_new">http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/MESS6438/</A> <br>Lookie See what the kids are up to.<br>Dave T. Clown

[ssor]

patrickacox,<br>The cats can be very painful if the care of handeling is not taken. The cutless glove is best for the untrained and some of the trained for that mater. Once the tecnique is perfected the glove is not needed. <br>I place my thum and first finger right behind the side finns and use my palm to hold down the top finn and hold on tight. It has worked well for me for many years now. WARNING If you let that top finn up at all you will be in pain for about 3 days. <br>Another method I have seen is to grab the lower jaw with plyers and hold on tight. Do not use your hand as the plyers as the bite will cause much pain and the posable loss of a finger or two.<br>Hope this helps you and happy catting![]<br>Another warning: Don't leave a cat or head of a cat laying on the ground as the top finn will go right through a soft soled shoe before you know what happened. Saw this happen on a pier one day. Sure destroyed a great day of fishing for that angler.[frown]<br><br>Texas Gulf Coast Fisher &lt;*(())))))))))&gt;{<br><A HREF="http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/ROSS6959/" target="_new">http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/ROSS6959/</A>

[davetclown]

in the olden daze we were tought by the old timers to nail the cat fish to a tree or teliphone pole to skin them.<br><br>If your a tree hugger like I am and the neibors dont like you comming in to their yard and nailing your fish to their phone pole (and they wont join ya for a cat fish fry) then I would strongly sujest that when you clean them that you use them wire cutters and cut them fins close to the bodie before handling them.<br><br>Then when you clean them you can treat them llike any other fish. Fillet em and flop em on their side then skin.<br><br>O' by the way you will only get stung 4 or 5 times befor you become a master at handling them cats.<br><br>dont forget to envite me to your next cat fish fry<br><b> "Have Plate Will Travel"</b><br><br><A HREF="http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/MESS6438/" target="_new">http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/MESS6438/</A> <br>Recycle your old Equipment<br>Dave T. Clown

[Raypaw]

John I have to totaly agree with you I use my palm and let the the fins tru my fingers I have been told that if you get finned to rub that spot on the catfishes belly and that will stop the hurting otherwise can still hurt up to a week. Raypaw<br><br>Cant change yesterday<br>cant change tommorow<br>can change today so lets get busy

[KyBasser]

if you have a good pair of gloves you can always lip them, it's a lot easier than avoiding those fins, or at least in my opinion!<br><br>kybasser<br>"The two best times to fish is when it's rainin' and when it ain't." ~Patrick F. McManus

[cryinbrian]

Catch the fish, land him, have a cooler full of ice and several freezer-type bags handy and some clean water, bash the fish to kill it...preferrably on top o' the noggin...with a heavy object, clean the fish and fillet or whatever and however you want it then toss it under ice right away in the freezer bag. As for handling, I always depend on the size of the fish. For cats 10lbs or under, I always use the "slide under" approach. That means I slide my hand under the dorsal fin while it's up(it will be in defense - if not, do it yourself)then position my thumb and forfinger under the pectoral fins and grip tightly. Then I get the hook out...if I can, if not, cut the line(they like to swallow). Then I get to the killing. I know it sounds very rogue, but I want to eat it, not meet it's family and kids. Which brings me to an important thing my Grandpa told me..."If you want to catch fish, don't look hungry" Works for me.<br>For larger catfish I suggest using gloves and snag the giant by grabbing it's lower jaw. It doesn't have much bite force like some people think. Good deer-leather gloves bought at a discount store work well. Or you can go for the "no cut" gloves. They work great for cleaning, but can be too rough to slide your hand in past the rasp-like teeth. Don't worry about myths about catfish taking off hands, couldn't happen. If it did, the idiot that lost a part of his body to a fish other than a shark or grouper should reevaluate his position on this planet and just hack off another part...like his head. Catfish can and do have a bite, though, so gloves will be necessary for handling them via cakehole...they also have rough teeth ridges which will do damage to anyones' exposed skin. Haul the monster up and out of the water.<br>Now, here's the interesting part...from my experience, the bigger the cat, the less movement when landed. A young, juicy and tender catfish(about 20", 3-4lbs)will fight like a serious contender...gotta grab him quick, get the deed done and move on to the next. A big boy(15lbs++) will fight like an elephant, make you wish you were'nt born, create sore arms and maybe a hernia in the morning(explain that to your woman)so if you ACTUALLY land him, whether it be boat or shore, nail that sucker as soon as you get a chance...but I don't suggest that UNLESS you want to eat 'im. And I seriously don't suggest you eat him. WHY?? Well, let's see...any large fish in North America, not just the good Ol' US of A have certain toxins in their tissues that have been known, the toxins I mean, to cause illnesses of some form or another. The larger the fish, the more the toxins have built up in their tissues. Mercury is a big scare...but it's also real. The guy who brings home a huge catfish and wants to eat it instead of mounting it is more likely to contaminate him/herself and family with some sort of runoff from a field(fertilizers/supplements/waste)than if he caught a few 2 pounders. Check with your local Conservation Department to find out. I caughtr a fish from a lake in Southern Illinois. I took it to a biology lab in a University(I don't want to name names...may be hazardous to my legal health)and they found super-high levels of Mercury in the fishes body. Had I eaten this, I may have helped produce offspring that were malformed in one aspect or another. <br>OK! enough scare!<br>You read how I hold catfish. Just keep safety rules for your family and yourself in your head...just safety tips. Knowledge is power. I love to fish. I eat fish. I catch and release(I had some lady from PETA call me and sent some info about how fishing kills...I told her I have 4 fishtanks with very happy fish, but if the lakes dry up, they're next!...she hung up in revulsion) but mostly I want to protect myself from toxins we humans have shed on this Earth. The fish, frogs, and other pond, lake and river dwellers can and will accumulate these toxins in their bodies over time. So remember, a giant is a well deserved trophy - but not Sunday Dinner.<br><br>Catch only what you want to eat, or display. I'm so tired of these macho "anglers" who catch and freeze enough to feed an army...and they got money to buy a whole cow.<br><br>I love fish! I love cows! I love pigs! I love fowl! If it walks and isn't poisonous, I'll eat that sucker in a minute! OK, exception...I hate rattlesnakes, been bit by a Timber...but I love the taste!<br><br>Happy fishing...this "opinion" has been heard(I hope)\<br><br><br><br>&lt;--^----&lt; The big one got away...with my pole, boat, and wife!<br>

[joefisher]

i push the fins down and put my hands over them <br><br>

[Santaaa]

catfish are not terribly hard to hold. Smaller ones grab them around the belly and hold on tight. Bigger ones take your index and middle finger and put them in the the gill on one side and then put your thumb on the other side and grasp the part in between the gills. If you do that he will have a hard time getting you. I suggest getting a large net too. A fillet board would be good. Don't bother hitting them or freezing them to death. They won't die you just have to let them die on their own time as cruel as it may sound I have hit them on the noggin with hammers and large rocks and it won't kill them. I split ones head open with a hammer and it just would not die.
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[tubeN2]

Most of the sporting goods have fillet gloves. Those work well especially if it is mild steel or Kevlar.[cool]
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[tubeN2]

I used the masonry gloves. They are cotton with a rubber coating. Once you bring the cat up, stick your your thumb in it's mouth and take out the hook.

Place the cat back in the water, if that's your choice or put it on your stringer or in your fish basket.[cool]
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[davetclown]

How do you hold a catfish?

With Tender Loving Care..[laugh]
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[katfish]

Like this []



Catchabiggun,
Robby
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[davetclown]

LOL,

Ya, that the way to hold that baby...[laugh]

nice kitty, [cool]
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[Warchild]

Just like a six pack...
Ps: Never grab your girlfriend like six pack they get real mad[]
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[tntitans21399]

I went out and bought a cheap pair of gloves at Lowes. I got the pair that is kind of like mesh with the inside of the hand is rubber. I like these because you can slide your hand into them easilly. I then just grap them and try to push the fins back and hold them tight against the body. Then I can usually put my thump in their mouth to hold if open as I get the hook. I haven't had any problems with the gloves or the catfish fins, but I guess we'll have to see how they do over time.
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[tubeN2]

I would suggest getting a few pairs of them to have them handy. Over time, the rubber coating will wear a bit.

Welcome aboard and thanks for sharing.[cool]
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[davetclown]

I like them rawhide leather work gloves. Ya know those gray ones the turckers use....

you realy have to ram a fillet knife in to that leather to get the blade though...
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